Game 21 · American (8-12, 4-6 PL) at Army West Point (5-16, 1-9 PL)
Saturday, Feb. 8 · 1 p.m. · West Point, N.Y. (Christl Arena)
All-Time Record: American leads, 24-18
WASHINGTON - The American University women's basketball team (8-12, 4-6 PL) returns to action this weekend with the first of two consecutive road games, traveling to Army West Point (5-16, 1-9 PL) for a 1 p.m. tip on Saturday.
SERIES HISTORY
- The Eagles picked up a 73-57 win over the Black Knights on January 8 to extend to a 24-18 lead in the series.
- American enters the weekend matinee on a six-game win streak, including back-to-back victories in Christl Arena.
- AU claimed the series opener, 79-39, on December 31, 1996.
- The two teams are tied in West Point, 10-10, after a six-game home win streak by Army that ended with a 64-46 American victory on Jan. 8, 2018, in the midst of the Eagles' PL Championship run.
THE STARTING FIVE
- American is looking for its second consecutive road win on Saturday after the Eagles toppled Lehigh in Stabler on Jan. 29, 64-56. AU is coming off a 67-52 loss to Lafayette in Washington on Saturday, Feb. 1.
- Senior Kaitlyn Marenyi led the team for the second consecutive game with 13 points against the Leopards after hitting a career-high 26 against Lehigh - her 100th game in the AU uniform.
- Marenyi is fourth in the league rankings with 13.8 ppg followed by sophomore Jade Edwards in fifth with 13.7 ppg. Marenyi has consistently been one of the PL's top scorers in the league-only slate, averaging 15.6 ppg against conference opponents (3rd-tied).
- The Eagles are 17th in Division I for fewest personal fouls per game, averaging only 14.0 per game and allowing opponents only 10.9 free throw attempts per game.
- AU is second in the league with 3.0 blocks per game behind junior Indeya Sanders who ranks fourth with her 0.8 blocks per game and Edwards who is 10th with 0.6 per game. Sanders also sits within the top five in the league for assists per game (3rd, 4.6), steals per game (3rd, 1.8), and assist/turnover ratio (6th, 1.5).
LAST TIME OUT
- A fourth quarter surge wasn't enough to lift American over Lafayette on Saturday, as the Eagles fell to the Leopards, 67-52, in their first showdown of the 2019-20 season.
- For the second consecutive game, and fifth in the Patriot League slate, senior Kaitlyn Marenyi paced the Eagles in scoring with 13 points, hitting 4 of 12 from the field and a perfect 4 of 4 from the line.
- Sophomore Jade Edwards brought down a team-high six boards alongside her seven points, two assists, two blocks, and one steal.
- The Eagles had their lowest shooting percentage since Boston Univ. (Jan. 5), hitting 33.3 percent from the field (18-54) and 28.6 percent from three (6-21).
- The two teams traded basket-for-basket in the opening minutes, with the lead changing hands six times until back-to-back three's from Kucowski sent the Leopards into the first break with a 14-7 advantage.
- American struggled to hit the mark in the second quarter, shooting only 3-for-13 from the field while the Leopards hit an 18-10 run, including a final three from Kucowski that closed the half with a 32-17 spread.
- Shooting woes continued to haunt AU in the third quarter as the Leopards spread their lead to a game-high 23 at 52-29 by the end of the stanza.
- The Eagles picked up momentum in the fourth, though, behind a 14-point effort off the bench with sophomore Emily Fisher (6), freshman Lauren Stack (5) and sophomore Laura Graytok (3) all hitting clutch baskets to cut into Lafayette's lead.
#AUWBB vs. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE
- American holds a 244-126 overall record (.659) against Patriot League teams, and is 195-95 (.672) since joining the league in 2001-02.
- The Eagles have been one of the powerhouses in the Patriot League over the last two seasons, accumulating a record of 39-10 during the regular season.
- Before this year, only Bucknell (3) and Navy have beat out American during the regular season.
KEEP IT CLEAN
- American leads the Patriot League and is 17th in Division I for fewest personal fouls per game, averaging only 14.0 and allowing opponents only 10.9 free throw attempts per game (7.7 ppg).
- Ohio and Boston University appeared on the line more than any AU opponent so far this season with 18 free throw attempts while Villanova (9), Saint Joseph's (5), Bucknell (5), George Washington (2), Holy Cross (6), Colgate (9), and Lehigh (4) were all held to under 10.
KEYS TO VICTORY
WINS LOSSES
Marenyi 15.3 12.8
Edwards 13.9 13.5
Sanders 10.3 6.5
- The Eagles average a +2.9 turnover margin in victories vs. -0.6 in losses.
- American is also 6-2 in games where the team leads at halftime with only Towson and Colgate (1/25) pulling off the second half comeback after trailing by four and one at the half, respectively.
- Towson is also the only team to come out on top despite shooting worse than AU (.407 vs. .375). The Eagles are 1-10 in games where they shot worse than their opponent, and 1-8 in games where their opponent shot +35.0 percent from three.
- Lehigh is the only team to fall to American despite holding a better FG%. AU shot 38.9 percent (21-54) to the Mountain Hawks' 42.9 percent (24-56).
FIRST ONE TO 60...
- Since Megan Gebbia took the reins in 2013-14, the Eagles have put up an 99-33 record when scoring over 60 points, and 44-2 when scoring over 70.
- Included in that run is a staggering 48-8 record since the 2017-18 season.
- On the flip side of that, AU is 24-73 when its opponents score over 60 points.
- In the 2019-20 season, AU has averaged 65.0 ppg in its eight wins, and only 55.5 ppg in its 12 losses.
- In Gebbia's tenure, AU has allowed its opponents to score over 60 points only 97 times while the Eagles have crossed that threshold 132 times.
THAT FINAL STRETCH...
- The Eagles have trailed their opponents by an average of 5.0 ppg heading into the fourth quarter, but have been able to cut into that lead during the final 10 minutes with a 2.6 ppg advantage.
- AU had its most dominant fourth quarter of the season against Loyola Maryland, gapping the Greyhounds by 18 points, 23-5.
- The third quarter in particular has been a grind, particulary during the early part of the nonconference season. AU trailed its first six opponents by 8.3 ppg before picking it up to lead its final four nonconference foes by 2.5 ppg.
- Since the start of the conference season, PL opponents have led the Eagles by 3.6 ppg in the third stanza while AU has led in the fourth by an average of 3.9 ppg.
- American has picked up three fourth quarter wins against High Point (11/18), Radford (12/15), and Colgate (1/2).
SCOUTING THE BLACK KNIGHTS
- Army is looking to break a five-game skid on Saturday after tallying losses against Loyola Maryland, Lafayette, Navy, Bucknell, and most recently Lehigh, 94-65.
- Lindsey Scamman led the Black Knights with her eighth double-double of the season, scoring 13 points alongside her 11 rebounds. Hope Brown added another 13 points, followed by 12 from Kate Murray and 10 from Alisa Fallon.
- Two players are averaging in double-figures for the Black Knights, starting with Fallon's 12.7 ppg. Scamman is second with 12.5 ppg. Sabria Hunter opened up with 10.0 ppg, but has been out with an injury since December 4.
- Scamman also leads the team on the boards with 8.7 rpg and has put up a team-high 11 blocks.
- The Black Knights are averaging 61.5 ppg, 59.6 ppg in conference play, off 39.0 percent shooting from the field, 32.7 percent from three. They are averaging 37.9 rpg and 19.3 turnovers per game with their opponents converting those miscues into 18.8 ppg.
UP NEXT...
The Eagles will stay close to home next week with a 6 p.m. start at Loyola Maryland on Wednesday, followed by a 2 p.m. start at home on Saturday against Bucknell for the team's annual Play4Kay Pink Out.
For the latest on American University Women's Basketball, stay tuned to AUEagles.com and follow the team on Twitter (@AU_WBasketball) and Instagram (@auwbasketball).
